Car-handling apparatus.



No. 814,498. PATENTED MAR. 6, 1906. F. B. woomoan.

CAR HANDLING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED mum, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

PATENTED MAR. 6, 1906. F. E. WOODPORD. OAR HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED Mum, 1905'.

4 SHEETSSHEBT 2.

| 1 1| ll II IIIIII I PATENTED MAR. 6, 1906. F. E. WOODPORD. GAR' HANDLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MABHZ, 1905.

change the directlo'n of movements at the UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. WOODFORD, OF CHICAGO, ILL'INOIS, ASSIGNOB- ro HAUSER COMPANY, OF- CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

CAR-HANDLING APPARATUS.

are 814,498.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed mm'h 2,1905. Serial No. 248,103.

. Patented March 6, 1 306.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, FRANK E. Woonronn, a citizen of the United States, residing at- Chicago, in the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Car-Handling Apparatus, of which the following is a specificat1on..

M inventionrelates to ap matlcally transporting frelg t such as coal, ore, clay in brick plants, and the like, and particularly toa certain system of tracks and electric circuits and automatic motor shifting devices for shifting cars back and forth through limited distances, the same to. be handled from one orrnore central stations at a distance from the cars. The objects of my 4, invention are, primarily to bring the'moveload, and back.

ments of the cars under electric control from a common center, and to provide automatic apparatus for moving the same, guiding the movements, and applying the brakes, etc. Other objects are to improve and .sim lify the device's'for these severa urposes, all as will hereinafter .ap ear. .T ese and other objectsare attaine by means of the con- 'struction, arrangement and operation as illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings, and asespecially applied to a series of shuttle cars for the purpose of transporting material from the place of load ing, to an 1nc e to elevate and dump the In the accompanyin a general diagram of t e plan oftra'cks and feeders for the electric car and of the electric Figure 4 is asection through the car taken .on line (4)0f Figure .3,

Figure 5 isanother section through the .car 7 taken on line (5.) of Figure 3 and. showing the collector shoes-in contact with the electrical qfeed rails; A i

Figure 6 isa sidejelevation of a switch cam used for reversing'a switch on; the car to ends of its travel;-

diagram w the electric aratus for autoy mg inciine, for example.

drawings, Figure 1 is current arran ement on the ear for operating the motor an brake; I I Flgure 8 1s a side elevation shown by a ver-' tical section through the car on line '(8) in Figure 3, illustrating the means for operating it Figure 9 is a side elevation of thedevices of Fi re 8, being a partial section on the line (9) o Figure 8.

electric brake-and.

In the design of the apparatus as heremade by way of illustration, the cars are each .provided'with a. driving motor and with a solenoidal brake. From Figure 1 it will be seen. that between a loadin station A and a terminal B I have provide a pair of tracks for shifting back and forth the loaded and empty cars to and from the foot of a dump- The approaching track 15 and the returning track 16 are arranged with crossing frogs as usualand provided with sprin switches 15 and 16. Each track has a ongvits entirelength an electric collector rail 19, or conductor to pro vide the current for operatingthe motors, and at such points as are needed eac has an auxiliary feed-rail 20 used to supply current to the car brakes hereinafter to be described. It will be understood of course that the circuit through the feed-rails and the motor and brake solenoid are com leted' 1 through the car wheel to-the ground in the usual .mann

Power for the entiresystem may be sup-- plied bya dynamo at M and in the circuits are thc'switchboards C and D arranged with resistances R and with switches S, S", etc.,fo'r I throwing the current on and ofl and for vary ing the intensit of the.current." It will be seen for examp e, at station A, in -the track 16, the feed ra1l 19 is connected bywire 21 to the contact 22, and by means of the switch S may be connected bywires 23, 2,4, 25, and

26, to the dynamo and the ground; or other- 1 wise, the switch may make contact with wire 27 which will throw the current throughthe.

resistance coils R, R. and 'R, and thence.

Similarly through wires 25 and 26'as before" the feeding rail 20 for thebrake may-be .con.'

nected by wire 28 to contact 29 and 'throu' h the switch Sf to wire 30 and through 31 rectly to 26-and the dynamo, or through wire, '1 32 may be sent through the resistance coils,

as beforedescrihed, Each switch 011" thc -f .l.

board thus operates either the power or the .brake as the manipulator may desire, at each point on the track where manipulation is necessary. The switchboard D is entirely simi- 'lar and operates th'ecar at the other end of the' line.

' carcarries a switch 38 which b striking the switch cam 38 (Figure 3) is shifted between its contact points and reverses the current through the a armature. .The diagram of Figure 7 shows the Wirin for this purpose,

" and it will be unders'too that this may be arranged in any well known and convenient manner,

From Figure 5 it will be seen that the truck 33 is also provided with a collector shoe .39 to take current from the feed-rail 20, and from Figures 7, 8, and 9, it will be seen that by connection 39 from this shoe a solenoid coil 40 is excited and by drawing in ts core 41 it acts upon the toggle levers to forcibly draw together the two brake jaws 43 -pivoted 8.1344 to the truck 33 and operating upon a drum-45 to check the motion of the motor shaft 46. Of course this brake may bea plied to the wheel axle, or any other revo ving part, as desired, but Lfind it more effective mounted as shown. It will be understood that the switch cam 38 is placed at whatever position is desired to reverse the direction' of the car's movement.

At the station B an incline connected with the terminal 17 is preferably used to elevate the cars for dumping, and it will be seen that the feed-rails 19 and 20 end at this oint. Proper apparatus is here used to attac 1 and carry up the cars.

From the above description it will be evident that in operation a car being at the station A for loading will by throwing on the switch S to excite its motor, be driven back toward the terminal 18 until the switch 38 strikes the switch cam 38*, reversing the current through the armature. Thereupon the loaded car will move toward the-right, passing in the switch 15 and along the track 16 to the terminal 13, receiving current from\ the feedrail 19 and moving at a speed under control of the operator by means of the switchboards C and D, as heretofore described. Arriving at the terminal Not the track, the car will be stopped in the proper place and gradually, by the operator manipulating switchboard D, moving the switch S over to the left to throw the current off from rail 19 operating the motor and throwing it on rail 20 to apply the brake. It will be observed that each section of the track is controlled by, a separate switch S so that within certain limits one car can be 0 erated without affecting the others.

It wil thus be seen that a single operator stationed at the electric switchboards. can manipulate any one of the cars to start or stop it at any desired point on the track, and that each car when it reaches either of the terminals of the track automatically reverses its direction to return, or attaches itself to the cable, truck. This control is rendered perfect and easy by reason of the means for varying the current on any one of the several sections of track or upon all of them; so that the individual cars can be driven at any de sired speed or stopped as quickly as necessary, at any part of the track where such operation may be desired. By the arrangement of the switches to control both the drivi'i'ig current and the braking current I'make it impossible to rack or injure the mechanism by accidentally throwing both currents on at once, andwhen desired it will be evident that the track maybe in as many sections as desired and the feed-rail for the brake may everywhere parallelthe feed-rail for the motor. Thus the operator has complete control over the rela ive positions of all the cars, and the speed them collectively and individually at all parts of the track.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new, and

desire to secure by Letters Patent, is thefollowing:

1. The combination with a railway track, of two electric feed conductors independent of the track and of eaclrothena central switchboard having diii'erential' resistance coils'and' a single switchato fvary the current in eitherof said conductors; and a series of independentcars on the track provided with motors and brakes, and motor and brake circuits havingoperative contact with said conductors, substantially as described.

2, The combination with a circuit of track, a series of cars thereon, electric'motors and brakes on each car, and conductors for supplying current to the same, and a central switchboard. having means to differentially vary the current in different sections in said track and conductors in alternation.

3. The combination with a-car having an electric motor and, an electric brake, of a track and separate conductors for feeding the motor and brake, and a single centralswitch differentially controlling the current for both the motor and the brake conductors from a to alternately energize the motor and ll na'k'e conductors, and means attached thereto to vary the current in each of said conductors.

5. The combination with a track and a motor car thereon, of means for supplying current to said motor comprising separate connections to various portions of the supply conductor, and a set of resistance coils located at a central station and arranged for varying the current in said several portions and to energize the motor and brake circuits in alternation.

6. The combination with a track and a motor car having an electric brake, of separate conductors independent of each other and of the track for feeding the motor and the brake of the car and means located at a central station to energize them at will from a distant alternation.

7. The combination with several motor cars each having an electric brake and a separate feed conductor for the motor and brake, and a distant central switchboard having means to vary the current in both the motor and brake conductors, including a single switch to operate both the motor and the brake connection.

8. In car handling apparatus the combination with a source of current, and suitable electric connections for supplying current to l a moving motor car, of a brake for the car 5 comprising a pair of pivoted aws embracmg a revolving portion of the car driving mechanism a toggle link for closing said jaws operated by a solenoid, and means for energizing the solenoid by current from a point external to the car substantially as described.

9. The combination with a motor-drivencar having an electric brake, feed conductors for the motor and brake, and a single switch 'to operate the motor and brake in alterna- Y tion from a distant point. point independently of each other and only in In testimony whereof I have hereunt signed my name in the presence of the two subscribed witnesses.

FRANK E. WOODFOR'I).

Witnesses:

PAUL CARPENTER. F. W. H. ('ILAY. 

